According to national and international regulations, experiments involving large amount
of HIV-1 are generally restricted to infrastructures with a Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3)
status. However, work with genetically modified viral vectors such as the
replication-defective lentiviral vectors developed by Trono & colleagues (Zufferey,
1997) is usually performed in a Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2) containment, unless the inserted
gene sequence belongs to a higher risk group. According to current safety procedures,
animals exposed to recombinant vectors are classified in the same risk group as the
vectors. This paper evaluates the risk of shedding of replication competent recombinant
lentiviral particles by rodents infected with the third-generation lentiviral vector
system and reconsiders the containment level of those animals.
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